Chapter 38: Shengzai in the World of My Preferred Child

The woman before Shengzai, who claimed to be his mother, was named Wenren Youzi.

In reality, Wenren Youzi was barely twenty years old and was not Shengzai’s biological mother—she was merely his legal guardian.

Though Wenren Youzi now looked disheveled and worn-out, when she made an effort to dress up, she was a woman of striking beauty.

After all, before becoming a doujin artist, Wenren Youzi had once been an idol—though an underground idol, and not particularly famous.

Anyone who could become an idol clearly possessed exceptional looks and figure, far above most people.

Wenren Youzi had once studied at an art academy, dreaming of becoming an idol, because she had an elder sister who raised her by working as an idol.

Because of this, Youzi had always wanted to shine as brightly as her sister.

But one day, Youzi’s beautiful life and dreams shattered.

Her beloved and admired sister, Azi, was on her way to introduce her fiancé and his younger brother to Youzi when they suddenly encountered a violent attack.

At that moment, a man wearing a baseball cap broke into a residence and murdered a famous female idol named Xingye Ai.

After stabbing Xingye Ai multiple times, the attacker, still not satisfied, turned his gaze to a boy present at the scene and showed no intention of sparing him.

The mortally wounded Xingye Ai, summoning her last strength, screamed for help—just as Azi and her group happened to pass by and witnessed the scene.

As fellow idols, Azi immediately recognized the extremely famous Xingye Ai; even if she hadn’t known her, as an adult, she could not stand by while a child was murdered before her eyes.

So Azi’s fiancé charged forward without hesitation, trying to stop the tragedy.

The attacker was an armed, young, strong man; though Azi’s fiancé managed to knock him down, he was fatally stabbed in a vital area.

Seeing her boyfriend wounded, Azi rushed forward to check on him—only for the injured attacker to struggle back to his feet.

Blinded by rage, he recognized Azi as an idol and the dead man as her lover, laughed maniacally as if spurred by some new stimulus, then stabbed Azi as well.

Having completed his triple kill, the attacker fully lost his mind; realizing escape was impossible, he used his knife to end his own life.

At the scene, two men and two women lay pooled in blood, alongside two children, each only a few years old.

The blonde child stood frozen in shock, clearly terrified by what he had seen, and seemed utterly shattered upon seeing the dead Xingye Ai.

The other child, with black hair, after a burst of crying, noticed Azi was still breathing, so he immediately stripped off his own clothes to press against her wounds.

Then, with his tiny frame, he carried the injured Azi to the sofa, administered basic first aid, and urgently called for help.

When police and hospital staff arrived, they were instantly stunned by the scene before them.

Later, after investigation, the police informed Youzi that the attacker was a fan of Xingye Ai, driven mad by the fact that she had married.

Seeing Azi was also an idol, and seeing her with her fiancé, he was further provoked, making him target the innocent Azi as well.

Thanks to timely medical intervention, Azi survived, though she remained in a coma.

But her fiancé, struck in a vital area, could not be saved and died.

Azi’s fiancé’s younger brother—the black-haired boy at the scene—was none other than Wenren Shengzai.

With no other relatives, after his older brother’s death, Shengzai became a true orphan.

Since his brother died trying to save his sister, and Shengzai himself had saved his sister, Youzi resolutely adopted Shengzai and proudly called herself his “mother.”

Though Azi survived, she remained in a coma due to her severe injuries, and her medical expenses were enormous.

With no other choice, Youzi dropped out of school and used her art skills to become an illustrator.

But compared to her income from illustration, most of her earnings actually came from elsewhere—she was a well-known doujin artist.

“I want to rest too, but I can’t slack off—Azi’s hospital bills, and our rent and food for this month.”

“The savings Azi left from her idol days are almost gone; if we don’t earn more, we won’t even be able to afford instant noodles.”

Youzi patted Shengzai’s head, telling him to go to sleep, and scared him with warnings that staying up late would stunt his growth.

“Youzi, I’ve thought it over—I’m going to take Arima’s advice and try becoming a child star.”

The Arima Shengzai referred to was full name Arima Jianai, a little girl with shoulder-length wine-red hair and Shengzai’s neighbor.

And Arima Jianai was no ordinary little girl—she was known as the “genius child star who can cry in ten seconds.”

Due to her social incompetence and tsundere personality, she had almost no friends since childhood.

Shengzai, with his mature mindset and refusal to treat children as equals, became the only person who could tolerate her spoiled behavior.

Thus, this genius child star treated Shengzai with considerable “care.”

Arima Jianai had once said Shengzai was far more mature than ordinary kids his age and could protect him in the entertainment industry.

At the time, Shengzai, aware he was a reincarnator, felt it was embarrassing to be protected by a six-year-old girl, so he refused.

But now, seeing Youzi burning the midnight oil drawing doujin, Shengzai realized that if he did nothing, he was living worse than a dog.

“Is that so? Our Shengzai wants to be a star? Then Mommy Youzi will always support you.”

“But it’s very late now, our little star—time to go to bed.”

Clearly, Youzi didn’t take Shengzai’s words seriously and still spoke to him in a tone meant to soothe a child.

Shengzai found this deeply frustrating—given his current age, even if he spoke seriously about a man’s duty to care for his family, he’d only make Youzi laugh.

(This is a revenge story—should I let my morals follow my aesthetics? If it needs to be cut, cut it. We’re both reincarnated, later we’ll share mysterious powers, and resurrection isn’t impossible (￣￣))

(End of chapter)